Gerald Rudolph Ford (1913-2006)/biography
}} | birth_place=Omaha | death_date= | death_place=Rancho Mirage | spouse=Elizabeth Bloomer Warren | occupation=Lawyer | alma_mater=University of Michigan | party=Republican | religion=Episcopalian | signature=Gerald R. Ford signature.png |}} Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States (1974–1977) and 40th Vice President of the United States (1973–1974). Prior to 1973, he served for over eight years as the Republican Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; he was first elected to Congress in 1948 from Michigan's 5th congressional district. Ford was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, and became President upon Richard Nixon's resignation. As president, he signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War, even as the former ally South Vietnam was invaded and conquered by North Vietnam. Ford did not intervene in Vietamese affairs, but did help extract friends of the U.S. Domestically, the economy suffered from inflation and a recession under President Ford. One of his more controversial decisions was granting a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. In 1976, Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but ultimately lost the presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter. After experiencing health troubles and being admitted to hospital four times in 2006, Ford died on December 26 of that year, aged 93. Early life Childhood Ford was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. on July 14, 1913 at 12:43 a.m. CST, at 3202 Woolworth Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Leslie Lynch King, a wool trader whose father was a prominent banker, and his wife, the former Dorothy Ayer Gardner, separated 16 days after his birth. His mother took him to the Oak Park, Illinois home of her sister Tannisse and her husband, Clarence Haskins James. From there she moved to the home of her parents, Levi Addison Gardner and his wife, the former Adele Augusta Ayer, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ford's parents divorced the following December, the mother gaining full custody. Gerald Ford later said his biological father was abusive and had a history of hitting his mother. James M. Cannon, who was the executive director of the domestic council during the Ford administration, wrote in a biography of the former president that the Kings' separation and divorce was sparked when, a few days after Ford's birth, Leslie King, Sr. threatened his wife, Dorothy, with a butcher knife and announced his intention to kill her, the baby, and the baby's nursemaid. His first abusive action, according to Ford, occurred on the couple's honeymoon, when King hit his wife for smiling at another man. On February 1, 1916, now settled in Grand Rapids, Dorothy King married Gerald Rudolff Ford, a salesman in a family-owned paint and varnish company who later became president of the firm. She began calling her son Gerald Rudolff Ford, Jr. The future president was never formally adopted, however, and he did not legally change his name until December 3, 1935; he also used a more conventional spelling of his middle name. He was raised in Grand Rapids with his three half-brothers by his mother's second marriage: Thomas Gardner Ford (1918–1995), Richard Addison Ford (born 1924), and James Francis Ford (1927–2001). He also had three half-siblings by his father's second marriage: Marjorie King (1921–1993), Leslie Henry King, Sr. (1923–1976), and Patricia Jane King (born 1925). Ford was not aware of his biological parentage until he was 17, when his parents told him about the circumstances of his birth. That same year his biological father, whom he described as a "carefree, well-to-do man", approached Ford while he was waiting tables in a Grand Rapids restaurant. The two "maintained a sporadic contact" until Leslie King, Sr.'s death,1976-08-19 Ford joined the Boy Scouts of America, and attained that program's highest rank, Eagle Scout. He always regarded this as one of his proudest accomplishments, even after attaining the White House. In subsequent years, Ford received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in May 1970 and Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America. He is the only US president who was an Eagle Scout. Attending the University of Michigan as an undergraduate, Ford played center and linebacker for the school’s football team and helped the Wolverines to undefeated seasons and national titles in 1932 and 1933. The team suffered a steep decline in his 1934 senior year, however, winning only one game. Ford was the team’s star nonetheless, and after a game during which Michigan held heavily favored Minnesota (the eventual national champion) to a scoreless tie in the first half, assistant coach Bennie Oosterbaan later said, “When I walked into the dressing room at half time, I had tears in my eyes I was so proud of them. Ford and Cedric Sweet played their hearts out. They were everywhere on defense.” Ford himself later recalled, “During 25 years in the rough-and-tumble world of politics, I often thought of the experiences before, during, and after that game in 1934. Remembering them has helped me many times to face a tough situation, take action, and make every effort possible despite adverse odds.” His teammates later voted Ford their most valuable player, with one assistant coach noting, “They felt Jerry was one guy who would stay and fight in a losing cause.” During the same season, in a game against the University of Chicago, Ford “became the only future U.S. president to tackle a future Heisman Trophy winner when he brought down running back Jay Berwanger, who would win the first Heisman the following year.” The University of Michigan retired Ford's #48 jersey in 1994. At Michigan, Ford became a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and washed dishes at his fraternity house to earn money for college expenses. Following his graduation in 1935 with a degree in political science and economics, he turned down contract offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League in order to take a coaching position at Yale and apply to its law school. Each team was offering him a contract of $200 a game, but he wanted a legal education. Ford continued to contribute to football and boxing, accepting an assistant coaching job for both at Yale in September 1935. Ford retained his interest in football and his alma mater, asking on one occasion to be awakened to find out the score of an Ohio State-Michigan football game while attending a summit in the Soviet Union. Ohio State won 12-10. As president, he was known to attend football practice from time to time. Law Ford hoped to attend Yale's law school beginning in 1935 while serving as boxing coach and assistant varsity football coach, but Yale officials initially denied his admission to the law school, because of his full-time coaching responsibilities. He spent the summer of 1937 as a student at the University of Michigan Law School and was eventually admitted in the spring of 1938 to Yale Law School. Ford earned his LL.B. degree in 1941 (later amended to Juris Doctor), graduating in the top 25 percent of his class. His introduction to politics came in the summer of 1940 when he worked in Wendell Willkie's presidential campaign. While attending Yale Law School, he joined a group of students led by R. Douglas Stuart, Jr., and signed a petition to enforce the 1939 Neutrality Act. The petition was circulated nationally and was the inspiration for the America First Committee, a group determined to keep the U.S. out of World War II. p. 7 Ford's position on U.S. involvement in the war would soon change. Ford graduated from law school in 1941, and was admitted to the Michigan bar shortly thereafter. In May 1941, he opened a Grand Rapids law practice with a friend, Philip Buchen, who would later serve as Ford's White House counsel. But overseas developments caused a change in plans, and Ford responded to the attack on Pearl Harbor by enlisting in the Navy. After overhaul, from September to November 1944, aircraft from the Monterey launched strikes against Wake Island, participated in strikes in the Philippines and Ryukyus, and supported the landings at Leyte and Mindoro. Although the ship was not damaged by Japanese forces, the Monterey was one of several ships damaged by the typhoon that hit Admiral William Halsey's Third Fleet on December 18–19, 1944. The Third Fleet lost three destroyers and over 800 men during the typhoon. The Monterey was damaged by a fire, which was started by several of the ship's aircraft tearing loose from their cables and colliding on the hanger deck. During the storm, Ford narrowly avoided becoming a casualty himself. After he left his battle station on the bridge of the ship in the early morning of December 18, the ship rolled twenty-five degrees, which caused Ford to lose his footing and slide toward the edge of the deck. The two-inch steel ridge around the edge of the carrier slowed him enough so he could roll, and he twisted into the catwalk below the deck. As he later stated, "I was lucky; I could have easily gone overboard." playing basketball in the forward elevator well June, 1944. The jumper on the left is Gerald Ford ]] After the fire the Monterey was declared unfit for service, and the crippled carrier reached Ulithi on December 21 before proceeding across the Pacific to Bremerton, Washington where it underwent repairs. On December 24, 1944 at Ulithi, Ford was detached from the ship and sent to the Athletic Department of the Navy Pre-Flight School at Saint Mary's College of California, where he was assigned to the Athletic Department until April 1945. One of his duties was to coach football. From the end of April 1945 to January 1946, he was on the staff of the Naval Reserve Training Command, Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois as the Staff Physical and Military Training Officer. On October 3, 1945 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. In January 1946, he was sent to the Separation Center, Great Lakes to be processed out. He was released from active duty under honorable conditions on February 23, 1946. On June 28, 1946, the Secretary of the Navy accepted Ford's resignation from the Naval Reserve. For his naval service, Gerald Ford earned the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with nine engagement stars for operations in the Gilbert Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Marshall Islands, Asiatic and Pacific carrier raids, Hollandia, Marianas, Western Carolines, Western New Guinea, and the Leyte Operation. He also received the Philippine Liberation Medal with two bronze stars for Leyte and Mindoro, as well as the American Campaign and World War II Victory medals. Marriage and children On October 15, 1948, at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Ford married Elizabeth Bloomer Warren, a department store fashion consultant. Warren had been a John Robert Powers fashion model and a dancer in the auxiliary troupe of the Martha Graham Dance Company. She had previously been married to and divorced from William G. Warren. At the time of his engagement, Ford was campaigning for what would be his first of thirteen terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. The wedding was delayed until shortly before the elections because, as The New York Times reported in a 1974 profile of Betty Ford, "Jerry was running for Congress and wasn't sure how voters might feel about his marrying a divorced ex-dancer." About one-third of the U.S. Presidents have been Masons. Gerald Ford was also a member of several other civic organizations. These included the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and AMVETS. House of Representatives ]] Following his return from the war, Ford became active in local Republican politics. Grand Rapids supporters urged him to take on Bartel J. Jonkman, the incumbent Republican congressman. Ford had changed his view of the world as a result of his military service; "I came back a converted internationalist", Ford stated, "and of course our congressman at that time was an avowed, dedicated isolationist. And I thought he ought to be replaced. Nobody thought I could win. I ended up winning two to one." During his first campaign in 1948, Ford visited farmers and promised he would work on their farms and milk the cows if elected—a promise he fulfilled. On August 20 Ford nominated former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to fill the vice presidency he had vacated. Rockefeller was confirmed by the House and Senate. Nixon pardon On September 8, 1974, Ford issued Proclamation 4311, which gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes he may have committed against the United States while President. The Nixon pardon was highly controversial. Critics derided the move and claimed, a "corrupt bargain" had been struck between the men. They claimed Ford's pardon was quid pro quo in exchange for Nixon's resignation that elevated Ford to the Presidency. Nixon's Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig, did in fact offer a deal to Ford. Bob Woodward, in his book Shadow, recounts that Haig entered Ford's office on August 1, 1974 while Ford was still Vice President and Nixon had yet to resign. Haig told Ford that there were three pardon options: (1) Nixon could pardon himself and resign, (2) Nixon could pardon his aides involved in Watergate and then resign, or (3) Nixon could agree to leave in return for an agreement that the new president would pardon him. After listing these options, Haig handed Ford various papers; one of these papers included a discussion of the president's legal authority to pardon and another sheet was a draft pardon form that only needed Ford's signature and Nixon's name to make it legal. Woodward summarizes the setting between Haig and Ford as follows: "Even if Haig offered no direct words on his views, the message was almost certainly sent. An emotional man, Haig was incapable of concealing his feelings; those who worked closely with him rarely found him ambiguous." Despite the situation, Ford never accepted the offer from Haig and later decided to pardon Nixon on his own terms. Regardless, historians believe the controversy was one of the major reasons Ford lost the election in 1976, an observation with which Ford concurred. In an editorial at the time, The New York Times stated that the Nixon pardon was "a profoundly unwise, divisive and unjust act" that in a stroke had destroyed the new president's "credibility as a man of judgment, candor and competence." Ford's first press secretary and close friend Jerald Franklin terHorst resigned his post in protest after the announcement of President Nixon's full pardon. Ford also voluntarily appeared before Congress on October 17, 1974 to give sworn testimony—the only time a sitting president has done so—about the pardon. After Ford left the White House in 1977, intimates said that the former President privately justified his pardon of Nixon by carrying in his wallet a portion of the text of Burdick v. United States, a 1915 U.S. Supreme Court decision which stated that a pardon indicated a presumption of guilt and that acceptance of a pardon was tantamount to a confession of that guilt. In 2001, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award to Ford for his pardon of Nixon. The 1974 Congressional midterm elections took place less than three months after Ford assumed office. Occurring in the wake of the Watergate scandal, the Democratic Party was able to turn voter dissatisfaction into large gains in the House elections, taking 49 seats from the Republican Party, and increasing their majority to 291 of the 435 seats, which was one more than the number needed (290) for a 2/3rds majority, necessary in order to over-ride a Presidential veto (or to submit a Constitutional Amendment). Perhaps due in part to this fact, the 94th Congress overrode the highest percentage of vetoes since Andrew Johnson was President of the United States (1865–1869).Bush vetoes less than most presidents, CNN, May 1, 2007. Retrieved on 2006-12-31. Domestic policy in 1975.]] The economy was a great concern during the Ford administration. In response to rising inflation, Ford went before the American public in October 1974 and asked them to "W'hip '''I'nflation 'N'ow." As part of this program, he urged people to wear "WIN" buttons.[http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/diglibrary/prezspeeches/ford/grf_1974_1008.html Gerald Ford Speeches: Whip Inflation Now] (October 8, 1974), Miller Center of Public Affairs. Retrieved on 2006-12-31 The economic focus began to change as the country sank into a mild recession, and in March 1975, Congress passed and Ford signed into law income tax rebates as part of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975 to boost the economy. When New York City faced bankruptcy in 1975, Mayor Abraham Beame was unsuccessful in obtaining Ford's support for a federal bailout. The incident prompted the ''New York Daily News notorious headline: "Ford to City: Drop Dead."Lemann, Nick. Rhetorical Bankruptcy. 2006-12-31. Ford was confronted with a potential swine flu pandemic. Sometime in the early 1970s, an influenza strain H1N1 shifted from a form of flu that affected primarily pigs and crossed over to humans. On February 5, 1976, an Army recruit at Fort Dix mysteriously died and four fellow soldiers were hospitalized; health officials announced that "swine flu" was the cause. Soon after, public health officials in the Ford administration urged that every person in the United States be vaccinated.Pandemic Pointers. 2006-12-31. Despite his reservations about how this program ultimately would be funded in an era of tight public budgeting, Ford still signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, which established special education throughout the United States. Ford expressed "strong support for full educational opportunities for our handicapped children" according to the official White House press release for the bill signing.President Gerald R. Ford's Statement on Signing the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, December 2, 1975. Retrieved on 2006-12-31. Ford was an outspoken supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment, issuing Presidential Proclamation 4383. In this Land of the Free, it is right, and by nature it ought to be, that all men and all women are equal before the law. Now, THEREFORE, I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the United States of America, to remind all Americans that it is fitting and just to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment adopted by the Congress of the United States of America, in order to secure legal equality for all women and men, do hereby designate and proclaim August 26, 1975, as Women's Equality Day.http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=23839 As president, Ford's position on abortion was that he supported "a federal constitutional amendment that would permit each one of the 50 States to make the choice."Presidential Campaign Debate Between Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter, October 22, 1976 This had also been his position as House Minority Leader in response to the 1973 Supreme Court case of ''Roe v. Wade, which he opposed. Ford came under criticism for a 60 Minutes interview his wife Betty gave in 1975, in which she stated that Roe v. Wade was a "great, great decision." In later life, Ford would identify as pro-choice. Foreign policy ese civilians scramble to board a U.S. helicopter during the U.S evacuation of Saigon.]] All U.S. military forces had withdrawn from Vietnam in 1973. As the North Vietnamese invaded and conquered the South in 1975, Ford ordered the final withdrawal of U.S. civilians from Vietnam in 'Operation Frequent Wind', and the subsequent fall of Saigon. On April 29 and the morning of April 30, 1975, the U.S. embassy in Saigon was evacuated amidst a chaotic scene. Some 1,373 U.S. citizens and 5,595 Vietnamese and third country nationals were evacuated by military and Air America helicopters to U.S. Navy ships off-shore. in Vladivostok, November 1974, to sign a joint communiqué on the SALT treaty]] Ford continued the détente policy with both the Soviet Union and China, easing the tensions of the Cold War. In his meeting with Indonesian president Suharto, Ford gave the green light through arms and aid to invade the former Portuguese colony East Timor. Still in place from the Nixon Administration was the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). Ford attended the inaugural meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations (initially the G5) in 1975 and secured membership for Canada. Ford supported international solutions to issues. "We live in an interdependent world and, therefore, must work together to resolve common economic problems," he said in a 1974 speech. Assassination attempts agents rush Ford to safety after an assassination attempt by Lynette Fromme.]] Ford faced two assassination attempts during his presidency, occurring within three weeks of each other: while in Sacramento, California on September 5, 1975, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, pointed a Colt 45-caliber handgun at Ford. As Fromme pulled the trigger, Larry Buendorf, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1026_041026_tv_secret_service2_2.html a Secret Service agent, grabbed the gun and managed to insert the webbing of his thumb under the hammer, preventing the gun from firing. It was later found that, although the gun was loaded with four cartridges, it was a semi-automatic pistol and the slide had not been pulled to place a round in the firing chamber, making it impossible for the gun to fire. Fromme was taken into custody; she was later convicted of attempted assassination of the President and was sentenced to life in prison. Supreme Court appointment In 1975, Ford appointed John Paul Stevens as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to replace retiring Justice William O. Douglas. Stevens had been a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, appointed by President Nixon. During his tenure as House Republican leader, Ford had led efforts to have Douglas impeached. After being confirmed, Stevens eventually disappointed some conservatives by siding with the Court's liberal wing regarding the outcome of many key issues. Ford reluctantly agreed to run for office in 1976, but first he had to counter a challenge for the Republican party nomination. Then-former Governor of California Ronald Reagan and the party's conservative wing faulted Ford for failing to do more in South Vietnam, for signing the Helsinki Accords and for negotiating to cede the Panama Canal (negotiations for the canal continued under President Carter, who eventually signed the Torrijos-Carter Treaties). Reagan launched his campaign in the autumn of 1975 and won several primaries before withdrawing from the race at the Republican Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. The conservative insurgency convinced Ford to drop the more liberal Vice President Nelson Rockefeller in favor of Kansas Senator Bob Dole.Another Loss For the Gipper. 2006-12-31. In addition to the pardon dispute and lingering anti-Republican sentiment, Ford had to counter a plethora of negative media imagery. Chevy Chase often did pratfalls on ''Saturday Night Live, imitating Ford, who had been seen stumbling on two occasions during his term. As Chase commented, "He even mentioned in his own autobiography it had an effect over a period of time that affected the election to some degree."VH1 News Presents: Politics: A Pop Culture History Premiering Wednesday, October 20 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT). PRNewswire October 19, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-12-31. President Ford's 1976 election campaign had the advantage that he was an incumbent President during several anniversary events held during the period leading up to the United States Bicentennial. The Washington, D.C. fireworks display on the Fourth of July was presided over by the President and televised nationally.Election of 1976: A Political Outsider Prevails. C-SPAN. Retrieved on 2006-12-31. On July 7, 1976, the President and First Lady served as proud hosts at a White House state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Great Britain, which was televised on the Public Broadcasting Service network. The 200th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts gave Ford the opportunity to deliver a speech to 110,000 in Concord acknowledging the need for a strong national defense tempered with a plea for "reconciliation, not recrimination" and "reconstruction, not rancor" between the United States and those who would pose "threats to peace."Shabecoff, Philip. "160,000 Mark Two 1775 Battles; Concord Protesters Jeer Ford -- Reconciliation Plea." New York Times, April 20, 1975, p.1. Speaking in New Hampshire on the previous day, Ford condemned the growing trend toward big government bureaucracy and argued for a return to "basic American virtues."Shabecoff, Philip. "Ford, on Bicentennial Trip, Bids U.S. Heed Old Values." New York Times, April 19, 1975, p.1. .]] Democratic nominee and former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter campaigned as an outsider and reformer; he gained support from voters dismayed by the Watergate scandal. Carter led consistently in the polls, and Ford was never able to shake voter dissatisfaction following Watergate and the Nixon pardon. Presidential debates were reintroduced for the first time since the 1960 election. While Ford was seen as the winner of the first debate, during the second debate he inexplicably blundered when he stated, "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford Administration." Ford also said that he did not "believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union."Election 2000: 1976 Presidential Debates. CNN (2001). Retrieved on 2006-12-31 In the end, Carter won the election, receiving 50.1% of the popular vote and 297 electoral votes compared with 48.0% and 240 electoral votes for Ford. The election was close enough that had fewer than 25,000 votes shifted in Ohio and Wisconsin – both of which neighbored his home state – Ford would have won the electoral vote.Presidential Election 1976 States Carried. miltied.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-31 Had Ford won the election, he would have been disqualified by the 22nd Amendment from running in 1980, since he served more than 2 years of Nixon's term. An article published in Newsweek shortly after Ford's death in 2006 discussed the former President's spiritual beliefs and cited evidence that Ford's preference not to openly express his Episcopalian faith in public contributed to his loss to Southern Baptist former Sunday School teacher Jimmy Carter. Ford's lowest level of support was in the Bible Belt states of the Deep South (Carter won every Southern state that year except Virginia). The 1976 election was arguably the last time to date that the Republican Presidential candidate could be considered the less conservative candidate relative to his Democratic opponent. While Ford's views on abortion were often ambiguous, he is often considered the last Republican President to hold pro-choice views. Post-presidential years, 1977–2006 Activity The pardon controversy eventually subsided. Ford's successor, Jimmy Carter, opened his 1977 inaugural address by praising the outgoing President, saying "For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land." giving Ford the power to control key executive branch appointments (such as Henry Kissinger as Secretary of State and Alan Greenspan as Treasury Secretary). After rejecting these terms, Reagan offered the vice-presidential nomination instead to George H. W. Bush.Allen, Richard V. How the Bush Dynasty Almost Wasn't. Hoover Institution, reprinted from the New York Times Magazine, (July 30, 2000). Retrieved on December 31, 2006. In 1977, he established the Gerald R. Ford Institute of Public Policy at Albion College in Albion, Michigan. This institute is designed to give undergraduates training in public policy. In 1981, he opened the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, and the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1999, Ford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bill Clinton. In 2001, he was presented with the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award for his decision to pardon Richard Nixon to stop the agony America was experiencing over Watergate. In retirement Ford also devoted much time to his love of golf, often playing both privately and in public events with comedian Bob Hope, a longtime friend. , President George W. Bush, and Betty Ford in the White House State Dining Room in 2003.]] On 29 October, 2001, in an article by Deb Price, a columnist with the Detroit News, Ford broke with conservative members of the Republican party by stating that gay and lesbian couples "ought to be treated equally. Period." He became the highest ranking Republican to embrace full equality for gays and lesbians, stating his belief that there should be a federal amendment outlawing anti-gay job discrimination and expressed his hope that the Republican Party would reach out to gay and lesbian voters. Price, Deb. (October 29, 2001). Gerald Ford: Treat gay couples equally. The Detroit News. Retrieved on December 28, 2006 He also was a member of the Republican Unity Coalition, which The New York Times described as "a group of prominent Republicans, including former President Gerald R. Ford, dedicated to making sexual orientation a nonissue in the Republican Party."Stolberg, Sheryl Gay, "Vocal Gay Republicans Upsetting Conservatives," The New York Times, 1 June 2003, page N26 On November 22, 2004, New York Republican Governor George Pataki named Ford and the other living former Presidents (Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton) as honorary members of the board rebuilding the World Trade Center. In a prerecorded embargoed interview with Bob Woodward of The Washington Post in July 2004, Ford stated that he disagreed "very strongly" with the Bush administration's choice of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction as justification for its decision to invade Iraq, calling it a "big mistake" unrelated to the national security of the United States and indicating that he would not have gone to war had he been President. The details of the interview were not released until after Ford's death, as he requested.Woodward, Bob (December 28 2006). Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq. The Washington Post. Retrieved on December 28, 2006Embargoed Interview Reveals Ford Opposed Iraq War. Democracy Now Headlines for December 28, 2006. Retrieved on December 28, 2006 Health problems As Ford approached his ninetieth year, he began to experience significant health problems associated with old age. He suffered two minor strokes at the 2000 Republican National Convention, but made a quick recovery.Gerald Ford recovering after strokes. Associated Press via CNN he was released on October 16. As a result of his frail health it was announced on October 17 that Ford was considering selling his home near Vail due to the uncertainty as to whether he would be able to return. Those that saw him during the last five months of his life said that he looked frailer than ever and that it appeared his body was slowly failing him, and by November 2006 he was confined to a hospital bed in his study.CNN Transcript December 26, 2006 11:00PM CST On November 12, 2006 upon surpassing Ronald Reagan to become the longest lived president in US history he released his last public statement: Longevity , 2006; this is the last known public photo of Gerald Ford.]] *On November 12, 2006, Ford became the longest-lived President, surpassing Ronald Reagan. At the time of his death, he had outlived President Reagan by 45 days. *Ford was the third longest lived Vice President at the age of 93. The two oldest were John Nance Garner, 98, and Levi Parsons Morton, 96. *Ford died on the 34th anniversary of President Harry Truman's death, the second U.S. President to die on Boxing Day, which Ford's pastor, The Rev. Dr. Robert Certain, noted when he referred to December 26 as its traditional Christian reference, St. Stephen's Day. Ford died at the age of 93 years and 165 days on December 26, 2006 at 6:45 p.m Pacific Standard Time (02:45, December 27, UTC) at his home in Rancho Mirage, California of arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis. in Washington, D.C. on December 30, 2006.]] On December 16, 2006, the Reverend Robert Certain of St. Margaret's Episcopal Church went to the Ford home and performed a communion service. The former president, though too weak to stand, was alert and participated in the brief rite, which included a formal prayer for the sick. With their father's health failing, all four of Gerald and Betty Ford's children visited their parents' home shortly before Christmas to say goodbye. Mrs. Ford and their three sons, who had celebrated Christmas the day before at home, were at Ford's bedside when he died. The couple's daughter, Susan, had returned to Albuquerque, New Mexico, the day before Christmas to spend the holiday with her family. No local clergy were present but Ford's eldest son, Michael, is an Evangelical minister and he performed last rites. "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, has died at 93 years of age. His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country." The statement was released from the Eisenhower Medical Center, where Gerald Ford's body had been taken and remained until the start of the funeral services on December 29, 2006. On December 30, 2006, Ford became the 11th U.S. President to lie in state. The burial was preceded by a state funeral and memorial services held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on January 2, 2007. Ford was eulogized by former President George H. W. Bush, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former NBC Nightly News anchorman Tom Brokaw and current President George W. Bush. On December 28, 2006, the New York Times reported that, at Ford's request, former President Jimmy Carter would deliver a eulogy. Decades ago, "Mr. Ford asked whether his successor might consider speaking at his funeral and offered, lightheartedly, to do the same for Mr. Carter, depending on who died first". Carter did not actually speak at the state funeral, though he did speak at the funeral service at Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids on January 3, 2007. Ford was also eulogized by Donald Rumsfeld, who was Ford's Chief of Staff, and Richard Norton Smith, Presidential historian. The invitation-only list of attendees included Vice President Dick Cheney, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, and U.S. Senators from Michigan Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. After the service, Ford was interred at his Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. See also * Gerald R. Ford Freeway * Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan * Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan * Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan * Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan * USS Gerald R. Ford * List of notable World War II veterans * Liberty, Ford's pet (a golden retriever) * Death and state funeral of Gerald Ford Footnotes , 1974]] References Primary sources * * * * * * * * * , by speechwriter * , by chief of staff * * by Secretary of State * Secondary Sources * full-scale biography * Conley, Richard S. "Presidential Influence and Minority Party Liaison on Veto Overrides: New Evidence from the Ford Presidency." American Politics Research 2002 30(1): 34–65. Issn: 1532-673x Fulltext: in Swetswise * * * , the major scholarly study * Hult, Karen M. and Walcott, Charles E. Empowering the White House: Governance under Nixon, Ford, and Carter. U. Press of Kansas, 2004. * Jespersen, T. Christopher. "Kissinger, Ford, and Congress: the Very Bitter End in Vietnam." Pacific Historical Review 2002 71(3): 439–473. Issn: 0030-8684 Fulltext: in University of California; Swetswise; Jstor and Ebsco * Jespersen, T. Christopher. "The Bitter End and the Lost Chance in Vietnam: Congress, the Ford Administration, and the Battle over Vietnam, 1975–76." Diplomatic History 2000 24(2): 265–293. Issn: 0145-2096 Fulltext: in Swetswise, Ingenta, Ebsco * Maynard, Christopher A. "Manufacturing Voter Confidence: a Video Analysis of the American 1976 Presidential and Vice-presidential Debates." Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 1997 17(4): 523–562. Issn: 0143-9685 Fulltext: in Ingenta * * External links Published works * . * First State of the Union Address. * Second State of the Union Address. * Third State of the Union Address. Libraries and museums * Gerald R. Ford Foundation. * Ford Library and Museum. * National Archives materials. * Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies in President Ford's hometown. Biographies * Extensive essay on Gerald Ford and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs *White House biography * *Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies *Brief biography of Gerald Ford *Collection of photographs of President Ford's homes throughout his life *Spartacus Educational Biography *Medical history of Gerald Ford Obituaries *@ Seattle Times *@ [[Wikipedia:The Guardian|The Guardian]] *@ The Boston Globe Multimedia and other *Audio recordings of Ford's speeches *"Gerald Ford in the news" - Articles from media around the world regarding Gerald Ford *April 23, 2006, Gerald Ford's visit with George W. Bush, the last known public photos, video footage and voice recording taken of Ford alive *Gerald R. Ford: His Life and Presidency, (31 December, 2006). New York Times/Associated Press multimedia (registration required) *Gerald R. Gerald R. Ford State Funeral, (31 December, 2006). Photo Gallery of the State Funeral at the U.S. Capitol Building *ABC News Special Report - Announcement of President Ford's death. Ford, Gerald